I was going to try and avoid going to the cinema this month due to the expense. The Green Knight (2021) was going to be my kind of one-off. But that being my first trip in a while, I got hooked again. Add to that there are a ton of films coming out in the next couple of months that I want to watch, and it was inevitable I would be back sooner than later. What I did not plan was to be going to any midnight screenings. I had never been to one before and they didn’t appeal to me. But the last year and a half being so devoid of things today I have found myself being more spontaneous and doing stuff I would never usually do because why the hell not. So, when I saw that there were available tickets for the midnight screening of No Time to Die (2021) I jumped on that opportunity. And even though I suffered for it the day after I very much enjoyed the experience. The fact that the film was as good as it was was just an added bonus.
I am going to try my hardest to avoid any kind of spoilers for this one so I won’t be doing a plot synopsis for it, but I will say that it was a great time. I am a fan of the James Bond series overall, and this film is both a great send-up to the franchise as a whole, while also being a brilliant send-off for Daniel Craig’s iteration of the character. First and foremost, it is a rip-roaring action film. It has been a while since I have seen the other films in Craigs run as Bond, but I don’t remember any of them being as stacked in terms of action scenes as this film. And all of them are a ton of fun, and of course, it mixes it up between great car chases, gunfights, and close-quarters fistfights that are staples of the series. This is helped by the fact that they are shot well. It doesn’t fall into the trap of quickly cutting to create the illusion of excitement that a lot of action films do. Instead, it shows you the action, in focus, so you are completely aware of what is going on and everything has added weight to it. In fact, the whole film is magnificently shot. There are some great moments of cinematography, made all the better by the grandiose sets which added to the large scale the film is going for while also adding an added visual punch. And who would I be to talk about a James Bond film without mentioning the music? After all, it has always been a huge part of these film's DNA, and it makes so much of this film as well. It is a great score throughout and adds a lot to what is already a very impactful film. I also think Billie Eilish’s title song is one of the better Bond songs, so there is also that.
But the reason this film is as good as it is isn’t the action, or music, or even how it looks. They all play a large part in why I enjoyed the film so much. But what made me really enjoy this film was the tone and emotional impact the film had on me. The tone is a great middle-ground between the more serious side of Bond and the more tongue in cheek side of Bond. It retains the gritty feel that was so prevalent in Craig’s first step into the role, Casino Royale (2006), while also having a silly feel that is more reminiscent of the later Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan films. By that, I mean the gadgets and one-liners that are all a little ridiculous but work with the tone that the film sets up for itself. And while it does all this well, it also carries real emotional weight to it. It may not be as effective if you haven’t seen the previous four Daniel Craig films as it carries on heavily from those. But it also sets up enough in the runtime that I think it could work on an emotional level for people coming in the first time, and it worked for me. And I think this emotional punch is helped hugely by the performances in the film which are all great. Everyone is on their A-game, especially Daniel Craig and Lea Seydoux who are both superb in their roles. It may in fact be Craig’s best performance in the role. He hits every tone he needs to and also makes Bond the most relatable he has ever been. He is a big presence on the screen and has your attention from start to finish. One negative I will point out is in the villain. This isn’t a slight at Rami Malek or even the writers. I think he is good in the role, and I also found the character interesting. The issue is that I feel like he isn’t explored enough and so you never really get a grasp on his motivations. He isn’t the focus, which is fine, but I feel like it was a missed opportunity as he was an interesting character.
And so ends the Daniel Craig era of James Bond, and it goes out in a crowd-pleasing, exciting, and emotional climax. His era of James Bond is effectively my era of James Bond, in that Casino Royale came out when I was ten and so I feel like I have grown up with them. And that film remains one of my favourite films of all time, so I am so glad that No Time to Die did the series justice. And it really does. Not only is it a great James Bond film but as a standalone action film, I think it works just as well. A spectacular way to bow out and if you have any passing interest, I will implore you to see it. Perhaps the best compliment I can give is that it made me completely forget how tired I was five minutes after it started, or perhaps that was the rum.
Comments